Analytical on Food Trade - Research Paper Example

? Analysis Research paper on Food Trade Introduction Agriculture is ranked among the earliest occupation that provides essential food and financial needs. It is one of the substantial sectors of economy that produce trade surplus thus significantly offsetting trade imbalance. In the United States, high demand for imported foods threatens the economy. There is propensity of the US importing agricultural products or food in excess amounts compared those exported. It is apparent that food imports offer consumers with variety of foods and this enhances competition that maintains considerable food prices. Global food trade is increasing because of advancements in infrastructure, transportation, consumer demands and marketing networks. Consequentially, trade is expanding with the increases in global population as well as per capital. This has led to globalization of food production, agriculture corporatization and agriculture industrialization. Thesis statement The objective of this thesis is to analyze US food exports and imports. The issue of food export and import in US food system has been addressed with emphasis on agricultural trade as well as food production. In the United States, food import has increased as opposed to export, which is partly associated with the elevated global food trade. Americans’ high demand for imported foods has led to US reliance on other countries such as China as the principal supplier of food stuffs. If the current trend in food trade in the United States subsists, economists argue that the US economy is likely to be weakened because of high debts accruing from numerous spending on food import. This paper also analyzes and identifies the global impacts of agriculture industrialization, corporatization as well as globalization of food production. The approach in food production results to benefits as well as adverse outcomes both to the consumer and producer. Although agriculture industrialization, corporatization and globalization of food production generate productivity and economic benefits, they are associated with several detrimental effects on social, ecological as well as economic realms. Furthermore, historical and modern perspectives of economics are analyzed in this paper as they relate to resource utilization and sustainability. Although economists’ perceptions on sustainable agriculture vary, they are usually founded on the principle of profitability and humans’ capacity to find alternative resources as well as solutions to their problems. Several individuals have analyzed economics perspectives of sustainability with minimal interest on variations between historical and modern economics perspectives. Methodology In this research, an analytical approach was adopted based on information or data provided in various secondary sources. The data concerning food trade was analyzed to assess the composition as well as trend of both imports and exports. The reports in food trade database were accessed and evaluated to identify the consumption behaviors of Americans. Information on various websites such as those owned by food trade regulation bodies provided substantial data for the analysis research on food trade. Research findings contained in various sciences journal articles and books provided a substantial account for global effects of agriculture industrialization, corporatization as well as globalization of food production. They also provided information on historical and modern economist’s perspectives on sustainability, which are analyzed herein. Discussion Global impacts of agriculture industrialization, corporatization and globalization of food production Globalization of food production Globalization of food production has been in existence for centuries. It is characterized by the exchange of resources and food stuffs between countries in different regions. The development was brought about by standardization of techniques used in food production, technology advancement, improvements in transport systems, and reduction of trade barriers such as tariffs. In most countries, US being among them, emphasis is placed on several interrelated issues affecting food production globalization. These include its economic viability, global competiveness of respective countries, customer demands, management of natural resources, utilization of technology, consumption of agricultural products and consequences attributed to the process among others. The global consequences of globalization of food production are controversial and primarily revolve around disparities caused by agricultural production capacity, political opinions as well as control over production process (Nutzenadel & Trentmann, 2008). Globalization of food production provides a wide variety of products and cheaper food. The diversification of production processes at a global scale facilitates the production of different types of products. In the market, customers are provided with a range of food products, complements or substitutes, to choose from. The existence of a wide range of products is attributed to varying technological, environmental and agricultural practices across the globe. In addition, globalization of food production provides consumers with cheap food. One of the reasons is that globalization promotes competition between various producers resulting to a decline in food prices. In the global market, agricultural producers are compelled to reduce prices in order to remain competitive and acquire a large market share. Mass production also results to cheaper food since production costs are relatively low compared to those of small scale production. Consumers in a country that does not have required environmental conditions for producing certain food can easily and cheaply obtain that particular type of food by importing rather than using technological processes to produce them. Furthermore, globalization of food production elevates large corporation control over food production. Countries and corporations with the most sophisticated production technology and capacity to produce usually dominate production operations. In view of this, production is based on the standards and requirements put forth by dominating food production corporations. As a result, countries relatively established in food production are adversely affected by globalization of food production with a high propensity of been dependent on their superiors. The least economically developed countries or non-industrial countries will become more dependent on more economically developed countries. Following stiff competition and availability of cheaper food imports, nations weak in food production may involuntarily opt to rely on food products from other countries. It is apparent that more economically developed countries are able to produce food products at very low costs translating to low food prices in contrast to the high production costs in undeveloped or developing countries and high food prices. Besides, non-industrial countries are forced into a system of dependence that is supported by trade rules that are put forth in favor of major food producers. Globalization also results to increased poverty especially in rural areas since independent farmers are compelled to purchase sophisticated technology in the attempt to keep up with food production corporations. The technology replaces the human labor which leads to unemployment hence poverty. It further brings about a shift from agricultural production of domestic food to production of export food. As a consequence, a country may encounter a decline in domestic food with the likelihood of encountering urban malnourishment. More often than not, globalization of food production enhances the expansion of channels of production with an increase of major retailers in agribusiness (Nutzenadel & Trentmann, 2008). Industrial Agriculture It is noticeable that various strategies used in industrial agriculture have resulted to impressive outcomes with regard to economic and productivity efficiency. These strategies include, consolidated management, standardization and specification The underlying principle of industrial agriculture is realizing extensive food production at the most affordable cost. Industrialization is characterized by mass production of food at relatively fast speed and lower cost. In essence, quantities produced through industrial food systems cannot be attained with conventional, manual food production approaches. Regarding an economic perspective, industrial agriculture has substantially reduced costs associated with the large labor requirement and production time. It has bridged the gap between consumers and producers needs since it ensures that requirements of both parties are achieved with precision. However, industrialization has brought about an agriculture that exhausts human resources, degrades natural resources and wipes out economic opportunities. It is considered inherently unable to sustain its value to the society and productivity (Frank, 2010). Industrialization of agriculture has resulted to excess use and exploitation of natural energy globally. Most processes and machineries employed in industrial agriculture rely mainly on fuels and other fossil energy. As a result, a substantial amount of energy is used in production of food with a significant adverse effect on the natural energy resource base. In American agriculture, industrialization has heightened the dependency on finite natural resources such as fossil energy. It is approximated that about twenty-percent of natural energy is used by food system in the US, and farming operations account for a third of the twenty-percent energy consumption. In actual fact, industrial food system needs an average of ten calories of natural energy (fossil energy) in order to produce one calorie of food energy. The aspect of extreme energy consumption or utilization has resulted to an emergent consensus that natural energy, especially fossil energy will be exceptionally scarce and costly in a global scale. On the other hand, industrialization in agriculture has resulted to pollution. Mechanization and extensive use of chemical inputs in agricultural operations has heightened levels of environmental pollution globally. Industrial agriculture contaminates, soil, water, and air with toxic substances used in farming such as agrochemicals as well as livestock manure. It is one of the major sources of pollution in that it is associated with more than 20 % of greenhouse gas emitted globally. In the United States, industrial agriculture is the major non-point cause of pollution as evidenced by the existence of several dead zones. Besides, industrialization has reduced the value of resources since it has created the need to use resources as well as energy to alleviate its negative effects (Woodhouse, 2010).  Industrial agriculture considerably contributes to social energy or human resource depletion. Although mechanization has widely been employed in agricultural operations, industrial agriculture still relies on labor in several activities such as running of the machines or equipment. In industrial agriculture, it is notable that human resource is the most exploited resource with minimal considerations on its value. Globally, farm workers are currently ranked among the most exploited with the lowest remunerations while they work under unpleasant conditions. In most countries, farm workers lack adequate health care, appropriate equipment and other periphery benefits. The increasing dependence on migrant workers in countries such as US, has led to political and cultural conflicts that impinge on workers well-being. As a consequence, there is a high level of social and economic decline chiefly attributed to negative effects on human resources as well as probable decline in productivity (Trexler, 2011). Agriculture corporatization Agriculture corporatization is characterized by market concentration and global market commodities crisis. Regarding market concentration, agriculture corporatization has eliminated competition policies that have led to establishment of huge conglomerates operating in several countries. This has created a scenario in which agricultural exports are usually between subsidiaries of a particular transnational parent corporation. Consequently, corporations are allowed to transact within a particular parent company thus controlling the market as well as eliminating independent farmers or producers. In this sense, agriculture corporatization affects agricultural markets by promoting further monopolistic control. It also exerts pressure on global prices of agricultural products. As regards global commodities crisis, agricultural corporation results to agricultural oversupply with a consequent outcome of price collapse. The attempts to alleviate the collapse by keeping prices low usually benefits multinational agricultural corporations at the expense of taxpayers. This results to global depression in food prices. Independent farmers are forced into debts or lose their land because the crops prices are likely to be below the production cost. Agriculture corporatization therefore, threatens the existence of small or independent farmers in developing as well as developed world, especially due to low commodity prices (Raup, 1973). Agriculture corporatization results to corporate control of seeds and plants. The agreement on intellectual property protection upholds patents, copyrights and trademarks in seeds as well as plants. Transnational corporations can thus obtain control over certain seeds and plants with the intent to generate profit. This undermines global distribution and access to seeds which affects food supply. Additionally, local farmers are forced into signing agreement on technology use, annual fee payment, and are limited in using patented seeds as well as saving them. Small farmers may stop producing food because of the additional costs and limited seed varieties which may jeopardize food supplies. On the other hand, agriculture corporatization promotes environmental degradation. It substitutes sustainable, conventional farming, and affects the environment negatively. The excessive use of agrochemicals and ineffective regulations of agricultural byproducts disposal, pollutes water, air as well as soil. The corporate accord on free trade support profit generation by corporations at the expense of environmental quality and societal well-being. Agricultural corporatization enhances the use of genetically modified cereals and organisms. It increases land loss by small farmers to corporations, elevates migration trends, undermines food sovereignty, and encourages export-oriented food production (William, 2011). Historical and modern Perspectives of economics on resource utilization and sustainability The major concepts of sustainability are social, ecological and economic integrity. Agriculture sustainability is concerned with maintenance of productivity capacity of natural resources, including water, soil, and air. It supports agricultural practices that satisfy the requirements or needs of the society: producers, consumers as well as citizens needs. In addition, an agriculture that does not generate profit is not financially viable irrespective of its ecological and social reliability. In this sense, addressing specific economic, social and environmental problems does not assure sustainability. It is necessary that completeness or wholeness is attained in ecological, economic and social integrity since none of the three aspects is superior to or less critical than the other. A sustainable farming operation should display levels of permanence, and the operation’s objectives or goals should bring about sustainability. Sustainable agriculture movements and perspectives were and are reactions to the mounting awareness that various approaches such as industrialization move towards agriculture do not ensure sustainability. Economists’ perspectives on the issue of resource utilization and sustainability in agriculture have remained reserved due to the economic philosophy founded on the premise that regards humans able to discover substitutes for solving problems or resources utilized. Economists argue that only an economic oriented incentive should lead farmers into sustainable agriculture. Farmers should consider human and natural resources as the resource of economic value which would cease with their depletion. These perspectives on sustainability based on economic incentive have a fundamental problem associated with their emphasis on the present situation at the expense of future occurrences. As such, economists tend to formulate an approach that takes into consideration the likely outcomes within a short period of time. An individualist response to sustainable agriculture is promoted by economists’ perspectives such that farmers should focus on obtaining the most possible benefits without considering risks associated with their actions, especially those may affect the subsequent generations. The economic notion that invests should benefit the investor deems sustainable farming an economically inappropriate exercise since the associated benefits accrues to the future generations. It is noticeable that economic perspectives relatively consider the value of sustainability likely to result to future generations (Hyberg & Setia, 1996). Economists’ perspectives have rendered industrial agriculture a financial or profitable business. In industrial agriculture, farmers do not pay proportionate attention to social, environmental and economic concerns. Industrial agricultural activities have turned out to be a great threat to natural as well as human resource with the elevated destruction rates of these resources. In this sense, some economists argue that industrial agriculture is economically unsustainable. Since natural and human resources are fundamental elements of economic value, interruption and depletion of these resources by industrial agriculture makes this approach unsuitable for ensuring sustainability in agriculture. In view of this, historical and modern economists’ perspectives are driven by the urge to sustain various factors of economy in an integrative manner. The viability of agricultural approaches can only be considered based on their contribution and effects on these factors of economy (Lin & Zobisch, 2006). Conclusion In the United State, food import exceeds export because of the changes in consumers’ lifestyles and food consumption behaviors. The advancements in technology infrastructure, transportation and marketing as well as changes in consumer demand have resulted to application of various agricultural approaches, including agriculture corporatization, globalization of food production, and industrialization in agricultures. These approaches have resulted to both positive and negative global effects as presented in the foregoing discussion. Some of the positive effects of these approaches include provision of a wide variety and affordable products, high productivity at low cost, and food security while negative effect include environmental degradation, monopolistic control of markets, loss of land by small farmers and countries overreliance on imports among others. Furthermore, economists’ perspectives on resource utilization and sustainability assume a more economical orientation with relative consideration of social and environmental aspects. Reference list Frank, E. (2010). Industrial Agriculture. Retrieved April 19, 2012, from http://www.faculty.rsu.edu/users/f/felwell/www/Probweb/PDFs/IndAgriculture.pdf Hyberg, B., & Setia, P. (1996). Economic and Environmental Tradeoffs in Agricultural Sustainability: A Perspective. International Advances in Economic Research, 2 (1), 41-46. Lin, Z., & Zobisch, M. A. (2006). Resource use and agricultural sustainability: risks and consequences of intensive cropping in China. Kassel: Kassel university press. Nutzenadel, A., & Trentmann, F. (2008). Food and globalization: consumption, markets, and politics in the modern world. Oxford: Berg. Raup, P. M. (1973). Corporate Farming in the United States. Journal of Economic History, 33 (1), 274-290. Trexler, N. M. (2011). "Market" Regulation: Confronting Industrial Agriculture's Food Safety Failures. Widener Law Review, 17 (1), 311-345. William, W. E. (2011). Corporatization of Agriculture. Retrieved April 19, 2012, from http://trendsoutheast.org/2011/all-issues/issue-01/corporatization-of-agriculture/ Woodhouse, P. (2010). Beyond Industrial Agriculture: Some Questions about Farm Size, Productivity and Sustainability. Journal of Agrarian Change, 10 (3), 437-453. Read More